If you feel inspired after reading today's article about Interconnection, the metal archway installation by sculptor Jen Mallinson and local First Nations artist Richard Campbell at Calderwood District Park, we’ve compiled a list of some outstanding public art displays for your next day trip.

As Council commits to incorporating public art into city and town master planning and streamlining approval processes under the Animating Wollongong - Public Art Strategy 2022-2032, there are likely to be more community art projects emerging in the future.

Until then, here are some of the art installations that have helped to cultivate the creative image of Wollongong and its surrounds – and they're well worth a visit.

• Comradeship – Didier Balez (2007)

Dedicated to the late teacher, activist and union leader Mike Dwyer, Comradeship – by sculptor Didier Balez – depicts a wooden sailboat with two full sails of steel feathers. The sculpture, made of recycled stainless steel, sits atop the northern headland of Coledale Beach overlooking the ocean where Mike once loved to sail. You can read more about Comradeship in this article by David Roach, president of Clifton School of Arts.

• Eye on the Horizon – Braham Stevens (2021)

At Hill 60 reserve in Port Kembla stands Braham Stevens' sculpture Eye on the Horizon, which depicts a large-scale curved lens with its centre feature portraying what might have been seen in a soldier's eye as they swept an area for enemies. Funded by the Australian Government under the Saluting their Service Commemorative Grants Program, Braham Stevens aimed to commemorate the efforts of Australian troops during World War II. You can see more here.

• Reflect – Col Henry (2022)

The six-metre-tall stainless-steel structures of Col Henry's Reflect rise up from Moronga Park at Clifton. The mirror-polished structure features two twisting towers, each with three arms supporting domes, that not only reflect the environment around them but inspire visitors to reflect on how they feel about the space the sculpture exists on. See more here.

• Migration Project – Nerine Martini (2015)

Inspired by the contribution of migrants in Wollongong, and the hardships, joy and enrichment often part of the migrant experience, visual artist Nerine Martini installed Migration Project at George Dodd Reserve in North Wollongong. Paying homage to the region's migrant population, the sculpture depicts six steel l-beams with ladders that carry a skeletal boat frame that sits atop a granite artwork emblematic of their journeys. Also part of the project are three recycled ironbark posts titled Dwellings that depict sheds, caravans and Nissen huts, often accommodation options afforded to migrants. Read more here.

• Nike – Ken Unsworth (1980)

Sculptor Ken Unsworth unveiled Nike – a 25-tonne steel sculpture comprised of five wide angular walls – at McCabe Park in Wollongong in 1980. Named after the Greek goddess of victory, Nike celebrated Wollongong's history of steel production and was fabricated by local tradespeople.

• Six Daughters of the West Wind – Alison Page and Tina Lee, among others (2007)

At the summit of Mount Keira are six wooden pyramids made of wood collected at the site and cast in bronze, indicative of traditional Aboriginal shelters. Joint contributors Alison Page and Tina Lee invited Aboriginal artists Lorraine Brown, Ali Day, Bonny Foley-Brennan, Debbie Hamstead-Callaghan, Val Law, Lila Lawrence, Jodie Stewart, Phyllis Stewart and Narelle Thomas to create the tiled structures beneath the shelters that represent the six daughters who are integral to the story of the creation of the Five Islands off our coastline. 

View Council's interactive public art map to find more community artwork around the Illawarra